Rachel Treisman

The Biden administration will distribute millions of face coverings to thousands of community health centers and food banks in an effort to help vulnerable Americans more easily mask up, officials said on Wednesday.

A report released Tuesday found that 168 Confederate symbols were removed across the United States in 2020, virtually all of them following the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officers. Only one of the symbols was removed prior to Floyd's death, when Virginia renamed Lee-Jackson Day in April as Election Day.

Updated at 6:45 p.m. ET

New York Attorney General Letitia James says a grand jury voted that no charges will be filed against Rochester police officers in connection with the March 2020 death of Daniel Prude, a Black man who was in the midst of a mental health free fall during his encounter with the police.

Updated at 4:45 p.m. ET

As the U.S. passes the grievous marker of 500,000 lives lost to COVID-19, President Joe Biden will order flags on federal property to be lowered at half staff for five days to mark the solemn milestone, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said at a Monday briefing.

Biden will commemorate the people who died at a Monday evening ceremony, joined by First Lady Jill Biden, Vice President Harris and second gentleman Doug Emhoff. The event will include remarks, a candle lighting ceremony and a moment of silence, according to Psaki.

Hayley Arceneaux, 29, became a physician assistant at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital nearly a year ago, almost two decades after beating pediatric cancer there herself. Now, she's set to reach new heights as the youngest American — and first with a prosthesis — to travel to space.

White House officials on Friday confirmed the extent of the weather's chilling effect on COVID-19 vaccine distribution, saying this week's storms created a backlog of some 6 million doses affecting all 50 states.

That number represents three days' worth of delayed shipments, said Andy Slavitt, senior adviser on the White House COVID-19 Response Team. He added that many states have been able to cover some of the delay with their existing inventory, and that the Biden administration expects to make up the backlog shortly.

Two Florida women disguised themselves as elderly grandmothers in an unsuccessful attempt to get their second doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, officials said Thursday.

All schools in New Zealand will offer free sanitary products to students starting in June, officials said Thursday. The initiative, which aims to combat period poverty, expands on a pilot program that launched last year.

Volunteers in coastal Texas have rescued thousands of sea turtles from frigid waters and shores during the historic winter storm and are working creatively to house them as much of the region remains without power.

The massive storm sweeping across the country isn't only bringing subzero temperatures and widespread power outages to much of the U.S., it's also putting a freeze on COVID-19 vaccine distribution in several states and cities.

In Missouri, Gov. Mike Parson announced on Monday that all state-run mass vaccination events scheduled for this week are canceled, citing safety concerns brought on by the extreme weather.

Updated at 4:35 p.m. ET

Far-right-friendly social media site Parler limped back to life on Monday with a new Web host, retooled community guidelines and a promise that content inciting violence will be removed.

A powerful winter storm is unloading snow, ice and below-freezing temperatures across the South Central U.S., setting record lows in multiple states and leaving millions of residents without power.

Authorities in Denmark and Germany have arrested a total of 14 people in the last week on suspicion of planning "one or more" terrorist attacks, according to the Danish Security and Intelligence Service.

The agency, known as PET, said in a release that it had detained 13 suspects in separate incidents, and that German authorities had arrested another person in a case "linked" to the investigation.

At least five people are dead following a massive pileup on an icy stretch of interstate in Fort Worth, Texas, early Thursday morning that involved between 75 and 100 vehicles, a Fort Worth police spokesperson told NPR.

Updated at 2:36 p.m. ET

The U.S. will impose sanctions and other consequences on Myanmar's military leaders in response to the coup carried out there earlier this month, President Joe Biden said on Wednesday.

Colombia will offer temporary protective status to nearly one million undocumented Venezuelan migrants, enabling them to work in the country legally as well as access healthcare and other essential services.

Updated 3:57 p.m. ET

Myanmar's military defended its actions and enacted new restrictions on Monday, exactly one week after it seized control of the government and on the third consecutive day of anti-coup protests that have intensified across the country.

Active duty military personnel will soon start assisting vaccination sites in states across the U.S., the White House announced on Friday.

Russia said on Friday it is expelling diplomats from Sweden, Poland and Germany, alleging they participated in recent illegal protests.

Russian journalist Sergei Smirnov is set to spend 25 days in jail for sharing another person's tweet poking fun at his own appearance, after authorities said the post constituted an illegal call to protest because it included the date and time of an anti-government rally.

The chief of the Tokyo Olympics organizing committee has apologized but refused to resign after coming under fire for saying women talk too much in meetings.

The U.S. Department of Justice is dropping its controversial lawsuit brought by the Trump administration against Yale University, in which it accused the school of illegally discriminating against white and Asian American applicants in its undergraduate admissions process.

Many Americans will likely want to celebrate this Sunday's Super Bowl as they have in previous years, with large, snack-filled watch parties. But Dr. Anthony Fauci, the president's chief medical adviser and the nation's top infectious disease official, is urging people to break from tradition to prevent a potential spike in COVID-19.

Fitness instructor Khing Hnin Wai has been filming herself performing aerobics on the same street in Myanmar's capital city for months. But none of her videos has gone quite as viral as the one she posted on Monday, in which she inadvertently captured the country's military coup unfolding in the background.

The morning after a winter storm dumped up to 2 feet of snow in parts of the northeastern U.S., a world-renowned groundhog named Phil emerged from his burrow and predicted six more weeks of winter.

Continuing a 135-year-long Groundhog Day tradition, members of Punxsutawney Phil's "inner circle" woke him up early Tuesday morning to see whether he would spot his own shadow. They said he did, signaling a longer wait for spring weather.

A U.S. House subcommittee is investigating coronavirus outbreaks at meatpacking plants, citing the deaths of more than 250 employees nationwide and accusing the Trump administration of failing to enforce worker safety laws.

Updated at 9 p.m. ET

A powerful nor'easter is working its way along the East Coast, shutting down schools, vaccination sites and travel as it threatens to dump up to two feet of snow in parts of the region.

The storm will bring heavy snow and winds from Pennsylvania to Maine through Tuesday, according to forecasters at the National Weather Service. They expect a widespread snowfall of up to 8 inches, with more in many places.

While the country's attention is fixed on the rollout of the vaccine and the arrival of a new administration, the coronavirus pandemic rages on. In many parts of the U.S., case counts and deaths are still sky-high. And new variants of the virus are worrying scientists and prompting new restrictions around the globe.

Wednesday's inauguration ushered in new occupants of the White House, as well as a revamped White House website.

Shortly after President Biden and Vice President Harris took office, sharp-eyed Internet users noticed several major changes relating to the inclusivity and accessibility of the executive branch's official site. Among them are a new feature allowing users to include their pronouns when submitting contact forms and a relaunch of the Spanish-language website.

After President Biden and Vice President Harris were sworn into office Wednesday, they inherited two other important titles: @POTUS and @VP.

That's because the transfer of power included the transition of official administration Twitter accounts.